NO. 14 MARYLAND 59, NO. 5 WISCONSIN 53
COLLEGE PARK, Md. -- Dez Wells scored 26 points, and No. 14 Maryland held off fifth-ranked Wisconsin 59-53 Tuesday night, ending the Badgers' 10-game winning streak and ruining their bid to clinch a share of the Big Ten regular-season title.
Melo Trimble added 16 points for the second-place Terrapins (23-5, 11-4 Big Ten), who blew an 11-point halftime lead but finished the game with a 12-6 run.
The victory improved Maryland's home record to 17-1. The Terrapins are 9-0 in games decided by six points or fewer, and they've won their last three by a total of 17 points.
Maryland led 55-52 before Trimble made a driving layup and was fouled. He missed the free throw, but after Wisconsin misfired twice on the other end, Trimble iced it with a pair of foul shots. The Terrapins missed nine of their last 10 shots.
After the final buzzer, hundreds of fans stormed the court to celebrate the Terrapins' most significant win in their inaugural Big Ten season.
Frank Kaminsky scored 18 for Wisconsin (25-3, 13-2) and Sam Dekker added 14. The Badgers' 10-game winning streak was their longest since an 11-game run in 1941 to win the national championship.
Wisconsin hadn't lost since Jan. 11 at Rutgers.
After scoring a season-low 20 points in the first half, Wisconsin opened the second half with a 13-4 run to close to 35-33. Kaminsky made three baskets during the spree and Josh Gasser made Wisconsin's second three-pointer of the game.
After Maryland bolstered the margin back to six points, Dekker made a pair of three-pointers and Nigel Hayes connected from beyond the arc to bring the Badgers to 45-44 with 8 minutes remaining.
The game was tied at 47 before Wells made four consecutive free throws to put Maryland ahead for good. His dunk made it 53-48 with 4 minutes to go.
Wells scored 14 points in the first half, and Maryland limited Wisconsin to 30 percent shooting (1 for 11 from beyond the arc) in taking a 31-20 lead at the break.
It was the fewest points scored by the Badgers in the first half this season, and marked the first time they trailed after 20 minutes since Dec. 3 in a loss to Duke.
NO. 6 VILLANOVA 89, NO. 25 PROVIDENCE 61
VILLANOVA, Pa. -- Darrun Hilliard scored 19 of his game-high 24 points in the second half, JayVaughn Pinkston had 16 points and eight rebounds, and No. 6 Villanova clinched at least a share of its second consecutive Big East regular-season title with a rout of No. 25 Providence.
Ryan Arcidiacono added 13 points and four assists for the Wildcats (26-2 overall, 13-2 Big East), who shot 53 percent from the field and 52 percent from three-point range en route to their ninth consecutive victory.
Tyler Harris led Providence (19-9, 9-6) with 18 points on 8-for-11 shooting.
Before the game, Hilliard and Pinkston were honored for Villanova's senior night ceremony. Tuesday's game was the Wildcats' last of the season at the Pavilion, their on-campus gym where they've won 26 consecutive dating back to the 2012-13 season.
SYRACUSE 65,
NO. 9 NOTRE DAME 60
SOUTH BEND, Ind. — B.J. Johnson scored 19 points, Rakeem Christmas added 14 despite being in foul trouble and Syracuse held ninth-ranked Notre Dame to 35 percent shooting as the Orange beat the Irish.
The Irish trailed by 10 in the first half and by seven with less than 2 minutes left, but managed to cut the lead to 59-57 when Jerian Grant sank a pair of free throws with 39 seconds remaining. The Orange put the game away with a fastbreak dunk by Johnson and a free throw when he was fouled.
The Orange (18-10, 9-6 Atlantic Coast Conference) beat the Irish (24-5, 12-4) for the sixth time in the last seven games.
N.C. STATE 58,
NO. 15 NORTH CAROLINA 46
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Anthony “Cat” Barber scored 15 points and North Carolina State beat No. 15 North Carolina, earning its first road victory in the series in a dozen years.
Trevor Lacey and Ralston Turner each added 14 points for the Wolfpack (17-11, 8-7 Atlantic Coast Conference). N.C. State didn’t shoot particularly well, but it played with toughness and composure while frustrating the Tar Heels (19-9, 9-6) just about all night.
Freshman Justin Jackson scored 16 points for the Tar Heels.
NO. 20 WEST VIRGINIA 71, TEXAS 64
MORGANTOWN, W.Va. -- Devin Williams scored 14 points to lead No. 20 West Virginia to a victory over Texas.
Daxter Miles Jr. and Jonathan Holton added 12 points apiece and Jevon Carter had 10 for West Virginia. Their outside scoring helped the Mountaineers (22-6, 10-5 Big 12) break open a close game in the second half and end a four-game losing streak to the Longhorns (17-11, 6-9).
Demarcus Holland scored 14 points and Isaiah Taylor added 13 for Texas, which couldn't overcome an 18-point first-half deficit and lost its third consecutive.
West Virginia figured out a way to outfox the bigger, more physical Longhorns. West Virginia scored 28 points in the paint -- 14 more than in a 77-50 loss to the Longhorns last month in Austin, Texas.
SEC
ALABAMA 59, SOUTH CAROLINA 51
TUSCALOOSA, Ala. -- Levi Randolph scored 17 points, grabbed six rebounds and dished five assists to lead Alabama to a victory over South Carolina.
Retin Obasohan scored 15 points and Rodney Cooper added 11 for the Crimson Tide (17-11, 7-8 Southeastern Conference).
After South Carolina battled to tie the score at 44 with 8:31 left, Alabama outscored the Gamecocks 15-7 down the stretch and Randolph netted seven points in the final 6:07.
Alabama's Jimmie Taylor dunked to tie the score at 22 at halftime. The Crimson Tide opened the second half with a 19-11 run and was up 41-33 after another dunk by Taylor at the 12:56 mark.
South Carolina led 10-3 early and stayed in front throughout most of the first half. Alabama closed to within one point on three occasions before tying it at 20 on a three-pointer by Randolph with 1:52 left.
Chatkevicius scored 18 points and Duane Notice had 16 for South Carolina (13-14, 4-11).
LSU 84, AUBURN 61
AUBURN, Ala. -- Jarell Martin scored 25 points for his second consecutive big game and LSU shot a season-high 57.8 percent in a rout of Auburn.
LSU (20-8, 9-6 Southeastern Conference) repeatedly got the ball inside for often uncontested baskets to get payback on a loss earlier in February.
LSU made 37 of 64 shots from the floor and outscored Auburn (12-16, 4-11) 52-18 in the paint.
Martin also had 12 rebounds against Auburn after pouring in a season-high 28 points and grabbing 13 boards in a weekend victory over Florida.
Jalyn Patterson had 16 points and made four three-pointers for LSU. Jordan Mickey added 14 points and Keith Hornsby scored 13.
Cinmeon Bowers led Auburn with 16 points and KT Harrell scored 14. Antoine Mason, who scored 29 in a blowout loss to Kentucky, was held to six, 10 points below his season average.
MISSOURI 64, FLORIDA 52
COLUMBIA, Mo. — Namon Wright helped Missouri snap its school-record 13-game losing streak with a flourish, scoring a career-high 28 points on 10-of-13 shooting to lead the Tigers to victory. The freshman from Los Angeles carried the team nearly single-handedly in the opening minutes of each half, and his 6-of-8 performance from behind the three-point line helped spark the loudest cheers in Mizzou Arena since the Tigers (8-20, 2-13 Southeastern Conference) last won on Jan. 8.
Devin Robinson scored 14 points and Jon Horford added 10 for Florida (13-15, 6-9).
SOUTHLAND MEN
MCNEESE STATE 77,
CENTRAL ARKANSAS 60
UCA (1-24, 1-13) turned the ball over 18 times McNeese State took advantage, scoring 31 points off turnovers in a Southland Conference victory over the Bears at the Farris Center in Conway. McNeese scored 50 points in the paint and 26 points off fast breaks.
The Bears lead 7-4 early as junior center Jake Zuilhof scored the Bears’ first four points of the game. But the Cowboys quickly took the lead on Kevin Hardy’s layup and pushed it out to a 22-12 advantage at the 12:24 mark of the first half. UCA fought back, with Jordan Howard’s three-pointer cutting the deficit to 26-24 with 7:20 left in the half. After the Bears pulled to within 31-29 on Thatch Unruh’s three, the Cowboys settled for a 38-33 halftime lead.
UCA scored the first four points of the second half on a jumper by Mathieu Kamba and a layup by Unruh, but it went sour quickly for the Bears from there as the Cowboys scored the next 20 points to put the game out of reach. UCA went nearly six minutes without a basket, and McNeese built its lead to as much as 58-37.
Keelan Garrett scored 25 points to lead McNeese.
Kamba led the Bears with 14 points.
Sports on 02/25/2015